If you have pictures of Warren that you would like to share with us, please mail them here and we will add them to our photo album.

Photos from his time at BBN and Xerox PARC (etc.) would be much appreciated!

Warren Teitelman 1941-2013

Warren Teitelman died suddenly on August 12, 2013. Warren
was a well-respected computer scientist, family man, dog lover and enthusiast
for life. We invite his friends and colleagues, and the many people who were
touched by his presence, to share anecdotes and memories, both on the guest
book of this web page and at his memorial celebration.

COMING SOON: Photos/videos from Warren's Memorial Service in September.

Biography

Warren was born in Philadelphia, PA and grew up in Miami, FL.
He attended the California Institute of Technology, graduating with a BS in
Mathematics, in an age before there were computer science degrees. He completed
his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under the guidance
of his thesis advisor Marvin Minsky. In his Ph.D. thesis, Warren described his
program PILOT, which contained the first implementation of the concept of
"Advice." He
invented or created the first implementation of UNDO/REDO, HISTORY, automatic spelling
correction, on-line help systems, client-server window systems, multiple
overlapping windows, online-help and tools for setting defaults and
preferences.

Warren thought of himself as a "graybeard" in the
field of computer science, beginning his work before the invention of many
concepts that we today take for granted. His most significant work was in the
area of making computers easier to use.
His better known works included DWIM (Do What
I Mean) and InterLISP. He was awarded the ACM Software System Award in 1992 for
his pioneering work in programming environments, as the architect of the
InterLISP system, in collaboration with Daniel G. Bobrow, Richard R. Burton, L.
Peter Deutsch, Ronald M. Kaplan and Larry Masinter.

Warren worked in the computer science industry for 43 years,
contributing to such companies as Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Xerox PARC, Sun Microsystems,
and Google. He was an outspoken and colorful character, unafraid of voicing
controversial opinions, whether he was contradicting Edsger Dijkstra or Butler
Lampson. After retiring in 2011, he collected his experiences in an
autobiography with the working title, "Memoirs of a Geek." He was in
negotiations with a major publishing company at the time of his death. The
company is continuing to pursue the project. For many years Warren coached
youth soccer teams in Palo Alto and Mountain View, CA.

During
the last part of his life, Warren turned the full force of his enthusiasm and
energy to the world of dog agility competition. He loved the sport for its
combination of physical and intellectual challenge and the partnership he
developed with his Australian Shepherds ("Aussies") Zayvee and
Pirate. Warren loved being recognized as "Head-band Aussie Guy," by
people who might not have known his name, but could see his love for the sport
and for dogs.

Family

Warren
was the son of Harry Teitelman, an attorney, and Mynette Bayer, a teacher. He
is survived by his wife, Deborah, his sister Paula, nieces, nephews and
step-children, and by his dogs, Zayvee and Pirate.